Antiseptics, disinfectants and cleaning

Antiseptics and Disinfectants Disinfectants are classified as biocidal products and are regulated by the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) (EU) No 528/2012 [7] to ensure that risks are properly assessed before they are placed on the market in EU/EEA countries. Currently, for most disinfectant products available in the European Union market for SARS-CoV-2 disinfection, the transitional measures of the BPR apply, as set out in Article 89 [7]. This means that most disinfectants are placed on the market subject to national legislation until the evaluation of the contained active substance(s) is finalised in the EU review programme. In general, alcohol-based disinfectants (ethanol, propan-2-ol, propan1-ol) have been shown to significantly reduce infectivity of enveloped viruses like SARS-CoV-2, in concentrations of 70-80% with one minute exposure time [8,9]. However, ethanol has not yet been approved under the BPR, so biocidal products based on ethanol are not authorised under the BPR but are available under transitional measures. Most Member States do not have an authorisation or registration system for the products under transitional measures and, therefore, do not have an exhaustive overview of the disinfectant products on their market. Biocidal products having virucidal activity and authorised under the BPR are efficacious against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. This also applies to products used as hygienic hand and skin disinfectants, which state they have limited virucidal activity or activity only against enveloped viruses.